PS4 system architect: we had 'completely the wrong attitude' with PS3
Mark Cerny, system architect of PS4, admits that while PS3 was a powerful console, they had "completely the wrong attitude" going into that generation of hardware.
In many ways, PS4 represents a complete turnaround for Sony. While PS3 was a $599 beast of a console packed with a bizarre proprietary Cell chip, PS4 is a cheaper, developer-friendly system that utilizes familiar x86 architecture. Why did Sony's approach to PS4 change so drastically?
Mark Cerny, system architect of PS4, admits that while PS3 was a powerful console, they had "completely the wrong attitude" going into that generation of hardware.
When first presented the Cell chip, Cerny admits that he "wasn't thinking about the practical reality of making a game with SPUs." Speaking at Gamelab 2013, Cerny said that he was "ashamed" to admit that "I never imagined that the cost of Cell would be one of the factors that caused the PS3 to ship at a price of $599."
"I was just staying focused on the task at hand, which was to best use the chip that had already been designed," he added.
Working with Sony's software development team, he was tasked with trying to figure out how to make games on Cell. By working internally to solve the puzzle of Cell, Cerny said that "we had a tremendous lead over every third-party team that would try to make games for the platform. The third parties hadn't even been briefed yet, let alone start work on their PS3 engines."
"Our feeling was that Electronic Arts and Rockstar better watch out--our proprietary first party systems were going to show them who had the right stuff," Cerny said. "This was, of course, completely the wrong attitude, but at the time, we just didn't know any better."
"We were all working on behalf of Sony Computer Entertainment's US game teams, and we were just thinking about our individual game titles. We weren't thinking about the platform at all," Cerny pointed out. At launch, developers were not happy with PS3.
A few years after the launch of PS3, Sony had to begin planning its next-generation console. With the help of Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida, Cerny became chief architect of PS4. Surprisingly, Cell was still something that Sony was considering for PS4, even in spite of outspoken issues with development. "The most obvious path forward was to continue to use Cell," Cerny said. "Though the learning curve had been steep, it was clear that mastery of SPUs was leading to some amazing titles, like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune... it was definitely an option to continue using Cell, perhaps even enhancing it, making it more powerful and easier to use."
Ultimately, Cerny decided to talk to third-parties about what they wanted from Sony's next console, taking the opposite approach to PS3's design. The early feedback on PS4, so far, has been quite positive.
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Andrew Yoon posted a new article, PS4 system architect: we had 'completely the wrong attitude' with PS3.
Mark Cerny, system architect of PS4, admits that while PS3 was a powerful console, they had "completely the wrong attitude" going into that generation of hardware.-
Doesn't sound too far off from the attitudes that pretty much all the big Japanese console manufacturers had in the 16, 32/64-bit generations. Develop powerful hardware that is difficult to develop for unless you are part of the inner-circle (1st Party), and then trickle out bits of info and hardware tricks to your favorite devs in order to ensure a long, gradually improving lineup of titles that are more likely to stay exclusive to your hardware due to the difficulty of porting to "that other Japanese company"'s difficult to develop for hardware. On top of whatever exclusivity deals they had back in those days, this reversal of planned obsolescence was used to keep third-parties from maxing out the hardware too soon and causing the system to peak in popularity. Nintendo and Sega were notorious for this back in the late 80's and throughout the 90's (except for the Sega Dreamcast of course), and Sony continued the tradition when they entered the market with the PSOne.
Sony assumed that this would be the case going into it's third generation of Playstation hardware, but underestimated Microsoft and their ability to court more western developers with hardware that was easier to max out but bore more resemblance to PCs, which made for easier porting. Once the artificial barriers of proprietary hardware began breaking down, Microsoft began to gain ground, while Sony's stubborn attachment to the old way of doing things ended up being their downfall with the Cell Processor and Blu-Ray, which brought the PS3 to market a year late, $200 too expensive and still sorely lacking in areas that developers wanted (e.g. RAM).
Sony's managed to turn it around, and I'm convinced they're on the right track this time. Microsoft, on the other hand, almost went down the dangerous path Sony did at this year's E3, but thankfully there's still time for them to turn things around as well, and learn from Sony's past mistakes as well as their own.-
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Compared to other contemporaries of its generation, the Saturn and the N64, definitely, but it wasn't "easy". It was still common practice to give preferential treatment to first party devs and specific third party devs in terms of SDKs and support. Sega was the worst offender, the stuff they gave to third parties was a joke more or less, and was a big factor in their eventual bowing out of the console race.
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"Saturn was nuts" - John Carmack
https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/304662242627031040
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First thing to overcome a problem is to admit it is a problem and Sony has done that. They look like they are turning things around from the loss of market share from xbox 360 this gen. Competition is great for consumers and this is a great example of how it drives intuition and innovations from competing companies in this awesome videogaming industry.
I might come back to sony if they show progress as they promised with PS4 but I'm still a Xbox One buyer day one due to games I want to play (Forza, COD, TitanFall, Halo, Dead Rising, Quantum Break, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Battlefield) Oh and I prefer the controller as well.
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